Darrrr she blows !!

Posted on Sunday August 18th, 2013 by dafdaf

Yesterday when we came from shopping and sat down in the shadow of a tree to have a snack, I saw a whale blow just in front of us – outside the reef. Yeah. It’s ‘humpback season’. And to get our chance we filled the tank of Lorenz’ dinghy and mounted the big (40hp) engine. Today right after breakfast it was our chance: a mother whale and her calf came right to the entrance of the Opunohu bay.

Ten minutes later we were in the dinghy and zoomed out towards the pass. We hopped in the water and only seconds later those huge, magnificent mammals were coming right at us. I could feel my heartbeat soar up and had troubles holding the camera still but still managed to make some shots. The whales went out to sea again and followed the reef to the north, towards Cook bay. Again, we parked the dinghy in front and hopped into the water. This time we were even closer – Lorenz and me had to swim out of the way to not get ‘run over’ by the mother whale. Puuuh ! And although they seem to move in slow motion, they still do 5-6 knots. We followed them out into the open sea as far as we could but then lost them.

A memory for a lifetime. And a video to share with you:

Posted in Animals, Learning for life, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | 8 Comments

Green steel ketch. Twice

Posted on Friday August 2nd, 2013 by dafdaf

This is weird, I thought: That boat there looks exactly like the one we’re waiting for. But shouldn’t it have a german flag ? And isn’t there too many kids on board ? (You never can be sure – it’s been two years since we last met.) So anyway to fulfill my duties as harbourmaster of Opunohu, I row over to say hello. The swedish family is very sympathetic and of course they know which boat we’re looking for: “Oh – you mean the Supermolli ? Well they should arrive any day now.”

Bruno didn’t mind – he was just too happy to have kids around that talk english that’s already quite something. So only minutes later they set out with the sailing dinghy and weren’t seen until late in the afternoon.

Yesterday, we’re installing the new membrane for the watermaker as I see yet another green steel ketch enter the bay. This time it’s no drill. It IS the Supermolli !! Bruno and Viola stand on the foredeck and start chanting while I make a few pictures. As soon as the anchor hits the ground we’re in the dinghy and on our way. Last time we saw each other was in Germany, two years ago. And that also was quite a coincidence – as is the whole story of our boats: It was us who actually wanted to buy the Supermolli in 2009 ! But then things developed differently and we started our voyage with the Rancho Relaxo.

Well now we can stop reading and commenting each others blog posts for a few weeks, I guess.

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Sailing, Suvarov | 2 Comments

A (yacht)

Posted on Tuesday July 16th, 2013 by dafdaf

While we get white fingers running around with paintbrushes, Lorenz is racing Bruno’s dinghy through the anchiorage. And as Bruno is filling the third page of my tax papers (he really likes doing that), a weird looking little boat silently enters the bay.

The ‘A’ is 119m long, displaces 5500 tons and carries 750 000 litres of Diesel. Using that, the up to 14 guests on bord can cruise for about 6500 miles at 19 knots speed. After all that’s from Panama to Fiji. But before continuing one should top up the tank. At current prices here that’s a bargain a little above 1 million and it should be full again. I’m not gonna start writing about the ecological footprint as shoes of that size are not invented yet.

Posted in It's funny ! Laugh !, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing | 3 Comments

Back in maintenance mode

Posted on Sunday July 14th, 2013 by dafdaf

It seems we’re back in our old modus: One little boat project every day.
Today, I took the third solar panel off the starboard handrail and put it together with the two on the arch in the back. That position is better as the side-panel always was in the shadow with the current wind direction. So I took the panels off, remounted them and hooked everything up to our old solar charger from the Rancho. That is now maxed out at 20 Ampere during mid-day. We still could use one or two more solar panels but for now it’s good. Not much else going on that would be worth mentioning.

Posted in Hardware, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Suvarov, Work | 1 Comment

Wintertime – and gone is the heat

Posted on Thursday July 11th, 2013 by dafdaf

Finally I got the engine fixed ! Since we got the Suvarov, the engine had problems with the cooling and started to overheat after a few minutes of regular use. On the first try, a few weeks ago I took apart the water intake and cleaned all the filters. The second time, I took apart the waterpump and got rid of a little leak there. But on our last trip we still had problems with the engine, the ‘water’ lamp coming on after a few minutes and we could see white water vapor coming from the exhaust. Today I took off the rest of the hoses around the engine, cleaned them, drained the whole system of all fluids and dismounted the exhaust with all it’s cooling parts. I couldn’t really find anything that was cloaking the cooling but still – it seems it has worked. After today’s repair I started the engine and let it run for an hour without problems.


That’s one big, bold lettered item off the todo list ! And I’m even more happy about it – since I’m alone here with the kids and usually don’t get too much done these days. The kids – well, they found friends on our neighbor boat ‘living’ and try to spend every waking minute with the two boys.
All well in the South Pacific

Posted in Hardware, Learning for life, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov, Work | Comments Off

…and landing !

Posted on Friday July 5th, 2013 by dafdaf

On our way towards the southern pass we have the predicted 25 knots of wind. As we approach the pass, we can see it disappear in front of our eyes : Usually quite wide and easy to sail through, it has shrunken to a third of it’s usual size. The rest is white water and waves. We already had set sails during the two miles we had to motor through the lagoon. The main sail is in the third reef as is the genoa.  We are only a few minutes outside the reef as the Maramu really kicks in. With amazement I see the wind instrument showing 50 knots while I put another reef in the sails and roll both of them to the size of a big towel. Now is also the start of the rush hour on channel 16. During the next two hours there will be no silence on the emergency channel. We hear of yachts drifting through anchorages, dinghies that get thrown through the air and recovered by other boats. The MRCC is in contact with two vessels that are out on sea and in troubles. Later we hear of a catamaran drifting towards the reef in Moorea.

That all happens while we’re doing eight knots going downwind towards the north-east corner of Moorea. Luckily we had our little test run a few days earlier, so nothing comes loose on the deck and also on the inside of the boat everything stays in it’s place. It even is dry inside as the deck vents don’t leak water anymore. But two breakers about half way through our journey bury the whole aft deck and cockpit in white water and a few liters find their way in through a broken seal in the back entrance. It was planned as a fast voyage with 25 knots downwind sailing and instead we get a ride in a storm: For the two hours that we are in between the islands, the wind establishes itself at 45 to 55 knots with gusts reaching over 65 knots. That’s where the beaufort scale ends – at force 12 !

Just after the NE-corner of Moorea we get some more choppy sea after which the waves quickly die down in the lee of the island. The wind also eases to 30-35 knots and we put a little more sail out. We continue sailing along the reef in close distance and finally tack through the pass into the Opunohu bay. The anchorage we enter under sails and Bruno receives cheers from the neighboring boats while he helps me anchoring the boat.
That really was an exciting trip and another good test for the Suvarov and her crew. Especially as we were without our capitana this time. She’s already landed in New Zealand and will continue her travel to Buenos Aires in a few days. – Odysee, LosLocos style. Now I’m gonna pack the wet mattress into the sun and relax for a while

Posted in Coquito, Learning for life, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | 3 Comments

Takeoff…

Posted on Thursday July 4th, 2013 by dafdaf

With the LosLocos, everything always is well planned and organized and that’s why we always are so extremely relaxed. This for example means that the day after we arrived from Bora Bora we spent the whole day emptying out the ship and cleaning everything on the inside with fresh water. The night we had two friends of the Bruno staying for a sleepover. Next day we started at 06h with birthday action and later had a nice party on the beach. Just when everything was over and we had cleaned the dishes, we went anchor-up and left for Tahiti.

This time we stayed at the pontoon in the city. Next morning at 06h Gui was already underway to get her carte de sejours – to extend her allowed time in the country. On the way back through the city we bought about 50 kilos of fabrics for Coquito and had to wrestle everything back to the ship. Right after we get everything on board, we leave towards the Marina Taina. It’s a few miles south and is closer to the airport in Tahaa. But I’m a bit nervous about the anchorage there as the wind is supposed to shift to the south on the next day and that can lead to a Maramu: a strong wind from the south that get’s accelerated in between the islands. We’ve seen it before and know that we could not get ashore in our dinghy in those conditions which means we might have to plan for a water taxi.

When sailing towards the marina we are amazed by the number of boats here. The main season really has arrived. No free mooring balls and plenty of yachts in the limited space there is to put an anchor. But we boldly throw the iron right in front of the dinghy dock into the 16m deep water of the lagoon. While Gui fights to fit 60kg of luggage into two bags a 23kg and her hand luggage, I take the kids to Carrefour where we get some good food for the coming days. While there I run into Lily from the SY Portal who contacted me earlier to talk about selling the windvane of the Rancho Relaxo. We agree to postpone the negotiations to dinnertime in the pizzeria. At sunset we’re in the restaurant and enjoy our last minutes together – and we also sell Wendy our windvane.
On wednesday at 04:50h in the morning the buzzing  of the alarm clock throws us out of bed and I take Gui and her luggage to the dinghy dock where the cab is already waiting. Later at about eight in the morning we see how the windvane is dismounted and transported to the SY Portal. That’s when we also see the dark clouds approach from the south. We quickly say good bye to our friends, get the dinghy up and leave before the Maramu hits…

Posted in Coquito, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | Comments Off

Testdrive, LosLocos style

Posted on Saturday June 29th, 2013 by dafdaf

After a few wonderful days in Bora Bora with our swedish friends we have to leave. Gui has an appointment with the immigration office to get her ‘carte de sejour’. And she really needs to be there in time as her flight to Argentina is only a couple of days away. I tell you that because actually – if I had the choice, I would have waited a few more days for a better wind. But we can’t and so we leave.
We exit the lagoon of Bora Bora through the only pass that is on the west side. And right here we can already see and feel the big, long swell coming in from the SW with a wave height of about 3 meters. In the beginning the wind is light and we glide along with four to five knots, slowly sailing southwards in the lee of Bora Bora.

As the night approaches the wind increases slightly but it stays quite comfortable during the first 16 hours. The ‘Fleming’ windsteering is holding the course very well and as the sun rises and Gui comes up we do the first tack and head ENE. The whole trip was not just to have some great time and see those wonderful islands but also to do a proper testdrive with the Suvarov. And now, on the second day we shall see what the boat can handle. A few small rain fronts pass overhead and we bash through them with full sails – despite having wind with 30 to 35 knots. On our old boat, the Rancho Relaxo, we would have sailed with the main in the second reef and probably the small jib. But the Suvarov with her longer and much wider hull doesn’t even need a reef. We stay hard on the wind and accelerate to 8.5 knots without any problems.
But the wind generally increases and the sea gets wilder on the second day. So additionally to the swell coming from SW we have now steep and choppy mix with the windwaves that come from the SE. The Suvarov smashes through the waves, the spray covers the whole ship and we see the first drops of water coming in through a small window in the bathroom and the two deck vents in the saloon. We push some towels into the vents and solve that problem.

During the night the waves increase and every now and then the whole deck is covered with white water. Later at night I’m downstairs at the chart table doing a logbook entry as I hear some weird watery sound from the kitchen. Can it be the water running by the hull ? No. That sounds different. There’s also that distinct noise that floating cans make. I open up the floorboard and my heart drops in my pants as I see all our food floating around in the bilge. We’re taking on water !!! Damn ! I wake up Gui and ask her to start her watch a little early while I use a portable pump to get the water out of the ship. A little bit more and our batteries could be buried in seawater. Not good. Not good at all.
After a while the water level sinks to a few centimeters and the rest I have to get out using a sponge and a bucket. While I’m at it I see where the water comes from: a deck vent in the kitchen acts as funnel and with every wave we get a few liters of saltwater. *rrrr*
The vent we close with a rag and some duct tape, that’s no problem. But we have lost a lot of food and also some of my spare gear that was stored further in the front. A little more than three hours later the bilge is dry again and we don’t take on more water.
That’s one thing to do in the next days: to get rid of the leaking vents. And rinse the whole boat with freshwater. Uuuuh. A lot of work. But – hey – otherwise we had a good trip. The Suvarov proved herself as a tough ship that can handle some beating. The sail upwind was good, actually better than with our old boat. And we were quite fast as we did 234 miles in a little more than two days, going against rough seas and a wind with 20 to 30 knots average. Now we feel like sailors again and we know we also have a good ship ! Yay !

Posted in Learning for life, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing | 3 Comments

Midsummer and Brunos seventh birthday in Bora Bora

Posted on Monday June 24th, 2013 by dafdaf

The most important day in Sweden is Midsummer. It’s also Bruno’s – and on the next day – Caroline’s birthday. So we had a lot to celebrate. Our friends made proper costumes and we made some lovely shots with the main island in the background. In the afternoon we drove the dinghies to the other motu where we danced around a decorated pole, sang swedish songs and had a endless drinks.

The beach on that motu is private and owned by a polynesian called Bruno. As all locals he was extremely generous and welcoming and we had a great time, making a bonfire, barbequeue, jumping into the water, eating and drinking again, singing and so on… On the way back I somehow ended up in the water (at two in the morning) and lost my sunglasses. But as the water is crystal clear it was no problem finding them seven meters down in the water. – Oh and that is again my last pair of glasses as I lost my NEW pair of sunglasses on the way to Raiatea. Meh.

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | Comments Off

Next island: Tahaa

Posted on Monday June 24th, 2013 by dafdaf

After two days in Raiatea we said good bye to our friends and set sail again. We had a beautiful cruise through the lagoon that connects both Raiatea and Tahaa. In the north-east corner of the lagoon we found a free mooring in the lee of a little motu and spent the night there. There was too much wind and the distance to the motu too big to row there with our dinghy so we went snorkeling and spent the night there.

Next morning we got up early to continue our round trip of Tahaa. Unfortunately a winch stopped working right in the middle of a jibe and we managed to create a big sandclock with our Genoa. So we rolled it in as far as we could and searched for a little valley to drop the anchor and get the sail working again. A little wind from the front and a few tries of rolling in and out did the trick and soon after we continued sailing around and back south again on the west side of Tahaa. We exited through the pass in between the islands and found ourselves in the Pacific again.

Sailing towards BoraBora only took a few hours and just before sunset we sailed through the only pass on the west side and into a little anchorage in the lee of a motu where we found all our swedish friends again.

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | Comments Off

Diving at the southern pass and on towards Raiatea

Posted on Tuesday June 18th, 2013 by dafdaf

On the last day in Huahine we decided to make a little dinghy tour down to the pass in the south of the island. We ride in our dinghy through the crystal clear water of the lagoon and arrive about half an hour later. There are two reefs in between us and the pass. After the first one, the snorkeling gets more interesting and we find some beautiful clownfish.

I climb the second reef and enter the channel but the waves are too big and snorkeling is dangerous. But the surf waves are absolutely amazing. The swell enters the pass and the waves continue to run forever it seems. There are quite some surfers here and they are haveing a lot of fun. Next time we pack the board instead of the snorkel. But it was fun anyway…

Next day we leave to the neighbor island of Raiatea. We want to meet the SY Gobo and the SY Yasoo who both seem to be a little bit stuck here… ;-) The sail is beautiful and very fast with a nice wind of 17-20kn coming from the south. When we approach the peer in Oturoa, the crews of three boats fight to take our lines. After a chaotic maneuver we shut down the engine and have a beer in our cockpit. The crew of the SY Shambala is also here and just around the corner are the boats of our swedish friends.

Posted in Animals, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | Comments Off

Treasure hunt on Huahine

Posted on Sunday June 16th, 2013 by dafdaf

Somehow Bruno found out that there is an old treasure buried here in Huahine. Rumor has it that Coco, the man working in the restaurant has one part of an old map showing the way. Everybody got their pirate outfits on and we set out on the voyage. I’ll let the pictures tell the story:

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | Comments Off

At last – underway again

Posted on Friday June 14th, 2013 by dafdaf

The short trip to Huahine (approx. 90nm) was amazing. Our friend Jean-Claude from Moorea came with us and also did one watch during the night. The SY Ninita, SY Orkestern and SY Lady Lustress (??) followed a few minutes after us. The first hours out on sea were a little bouncy as the waves in lee of the island overlap and amplify each other. But later in the night the sail was smooth and fast.

At sunrise the island already revealed itself underneath our Genoa. We changed our plan and decided to stay on the windward side of the island and sail around the northern end. It proved to be a good idea as we had wind all the way and could even enter the lagoon under sails. A little further down we met Kid from the SY Lady L. and he followed us down to the southern end of the island.

Soon later, the two other swedish boats arrived. The anchorage is a treat and the island is georgeous. We had some great days here in Huahine. More pics and stories follow…

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | 4 Comments

On the way towards Huahine !

Posted on Thursday June 13th, 2013 by dafdaf

Nach acht (A C H T !) Monaten in Moorea werden wir heute mal probieren, den Anker aus dem Sand zu klopfen. Die letzten Tage waren wie immer gepraegt von diversen Reparaturen. Namentlich wurden der voellig korrodierte Kutterstag-Spanner entsorgt, die Windsteuerung adaptiert, geschmiert und getestet, das Radar ab- und neu montiert, das Grosssegel geflickt, der Rutscher fuer’s Schothorn am Baum repariert, der Bord-PC installiert, das alte Dinghy abgebaut und verstaut, usw.

Im letzten Posting hatte ich ja schon die SY Ninita erwaehnt, die letztens hier auftauchte. Zwei Tage spaeter sind noch zwei weitere schwedische Schiffe eingelaufen, so dass wir uns hier einer kleinen skandinavischen Invasion gegenuebersehen. Wir feigen Alpenlaendler ziehen uns da zurueck und fluechten also nach Huahine. (Scherz, nein. Unsere Schwedenfreunde kommen allesamt auch mit !)

Heute am Nachmittag segeln wir also mal ein Stueckchen weg von Moorea und Tahiti. Machen auch endlich mal wieder eine Nachtfahrt und sollten morgen Vormittag da sein. Ein paar Tage spaeter wollen wir noch nach Raiatea und dann geht’s wieder retour nach ‘hause’, nach Moorea. Juhuu !!

Natuerlich gibt’s auch einige Erledigungen. So sollen wir in Huahine unser zweites Tauchequipment aufnehmen, in Raiatea unser Gaestebuch wieder einsammeln und die SY Gobo sowie die SY Yasoo besuchen. Viel Programm fuer ein paar Tage…

Posted in Freedom, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | 2 Comments

Waiting for the whales and new neighbours

Posted on Wednesday June 5th, 2013 by dafdaf

As discussed in the last (german) post, we decided to stay in french Polynesia until mid August. A researcher at the Criboe institute told us, the Humpback whales already reached the Austral Islands and seem to be early this year. We hope to see them in a few weeks here in the Society Islands. It’s said that the whales also frequent the Opunohu bay. I can’t wait to see them live in our neighborhood !

Life on the anchorage is also getting a bit more interesting lately. A few days ago the french boats even became a minority for a day or two. That hasen’t happend since we’ve arrived here.  Yesterday we had an austrian neighbour: The catamaran ‘Wild One‘ anchored next to us and together with Martin and part of his crew I went for a dive at the outer reef. Unfortunately there wasn’t much to see. We spotted a lemon shark and a few reef sharks, a big mooray eel and a few fish but missing the colorful coral it wasn’t too exciting. The best was that I got to test our new diving equipmet which was a lot of fun !

The day before a conspiciously small, red yacht entered the bay. Only a short time later Gui, when coming back from a bike ride, ran into Ola und Nina from the SY Ninita !! It’s been a long time since we met each other. One and a half years ago in the Carribean, Bequia it was. So now that crazy swedish couple really crossed the Pacific in their 26 foot yacht. Incredible ! That evening we spent drinking pigwater and telling our stories on the Suvarov.

Also positive: With the parts I brought from Europe, I could repair the LUNAWlan antenna that got damaged during our wreckage in October. Now we finally have a good internet connection again – and WLAN on board. Yay !!

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Suvarov, Work | Comments Off

(Deutsch) Zurueck in der Zeitzone TAHT (UTC-10)

Posted on Wednesday May 29th, 2013 by dafdaf

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Posted in Animals, Coquito, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Suvarov, Travel | 1 Comment

Signs of life

Posted on Saturday May 11th, 2013 by dafdaf

There still seems to be a confusion about our situation right now. We’ve NOT stopped sailing. I’m in Europe for three weeks to get things organized and to visit my family and friends. End of May I’ll be back in the South Pacific and we’ll set sail towards Suvarov and Tonga.

I don’t want to write about Europe right now. I’ve started getting my thoughts on paper but it’s so crazy, the life here has so little to do with the life we live in Polynesia, it’s really hard to even find things to compare. But I’m 100% happy to be with my family again and it feels good to see all friends after two years. Speaking of: there’s someone weaiting for me, I’ve gotta go.

 

Posted in Berlin, LosLocos, Pics, Travel | 1 Comment

Arrived and passed out

Posted on Thursday May 2nd, 2013 by dafdaf

At 20:55h local time I arrived in Berlin. At the gate, I got picked up by Stephi, Gibor and Wolfgang who immediately shipped the ramaining me to the next bar where we had some beers and shared the first stories. At 01:30am I fell into a soft, not moving bed and passed out. The mobile phone woke me up twelve hours later and now I gotta go out into the cold city and try to get my bearings. Where’s the sea ??

Posted in Berlin, LosLocos, Travel | 4 Comments

Finished. And off to Berlin ! Yay !

Posted on Sunday April 28th, 2013 by dafdaf

Yeee, in only three days I’ll be back from where we started. Somehow crazy. We spent two years trying to get here to the other end of the world and on Monday I’ll hop into a plane and 46 hours later I am in Berlin. But the decision to go on really short notice also meant a little work. As we’re still not finished with the boat(s) we spent the week in Tahiti. The Suvarov moored to a buoy close to the Rancho Relaxo of the Seas, we exchanged anchors and chains. Now our trusty bow anchor is back with us and the slightly older chain with the ‘Brake’ anchor is on the Rancho. Both items we might sell next week. The old Liferaft is underway to Raiatea where it will be given to it’s new owner, the wind generator now powers a french boat that’s underway towards New Caledonia. The remains of our rig went on shore where Jerry will later transform it into an arch (?) for the Pukuri.

The evenings I spent on the internet looking for spare parts and stuff we need, organizing the trip and trying to get in touch with friends. Oh I hope, somehow I could manage to see them all. So anyway, my schedule is Berlin for the first days, then to my family in Austria. The third week of May I should be back in Berlin from where I leave on the 21st towards our home in French Polynesia.

Posted in Berlin, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Sailing, Suvarov, Travel, Work | 5 Comments

Viola’s birthday – more photos

Posted on Wednesday April 24th, 2013 by dafdaf

Sunday we were celebrating Viola’s fifth birthday. There were all our friends from the anchorage/beach as well as Jean Claude and his daughters, friends from school and more.

The party started right in the morning with the setting up of the slack line, some weird rope game, putting baloons in the trees and while the kids were preparing these things, the skip sneaked out and buried a treasure deep under a coconut palm.

The gang had a lot of fun, searching the park for the hidden hints towards the treasure while the grown ups tried their balance on the slack line. But there was one thing that stole away the attention from the celebration: The puppies !

Somebody left seven little puppies under a tree in the park and they all found food and love with the kids that cuddled and carried them. When we left on monday all but two of the little dogs already had found a new home.

Next day we had to leave towards Tahiti. As usual, there’s not much wind and we were running under engine. Back in Tahiti, we dismounted and sold the windgenerator, the VHF and the fridge. Finally things get moving…

Oh ! And I nearly forgot to mention: I’m gonna fly to Europe !!!! Yessss !!! The Ackerman Foundation sponsored the flight to get Gui’s label Coquito started. So I’ll be in Berlin and Austria the first three weeks of may, starting a business and getting parts for the Suvarov. And of course visiting all my friends and my family – oh, I’m so happy. It’s been two years. I really am excited about that trip. Yay !!

Posted in Animals, Berlin, Coquito, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | Comments Off